Chapter 700: It

After returning to Bihai Lanting in the afternoon, Li Luo slipped back into his focused writing mode.

Xu Youyu slept the entire morning; after lunch, she was full of energy.

When Li Luo got home and saw her starting to type again, Xu Youyu changed into a secretary's suit, deliberately put on black-rimmed glasses with no lenses, and walked over with a smiling face beside him.

"What are you doing?" Li Luo glanced at her.

"Director Li, do you have anything to handle this afternoon?" Xu Youyu leaned against the desk edge, biting her lips, one leg brushing against Li Luo's thigh, "Or would you rather handle… me?"

"Cough… I think it's better to finish writing first."

Xu Youyu: "?"

Seeing his reaction, Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow, then narrowed her eyes and chuckled: "I thought it was strange—why did it take you so long to take Zhusheng to her dorm? Turns out you were up to something naughty."

"Don't talk nonsense," Li Luo straightened his back, radiating righteousness, and pulled Xu Youyu into his arms, "Isn't this a normal reaction?"

"Physical reactions are one thing," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, "But there's also a sage time for mental reactions—you clearly just got drained."

"Be honest—when did you and Zhusheng get together?"

"I never noticed before."

"You're asking too many questions," Li Luo took a deep breath, then tossed Xu Youyu onto the bed, "A secretary dares to question her superior? Looks like you need a lesson to remember your place."

…

Li Luo kept typing until past four in the afternoon, when Ying Chanxi finally returned from school.

As soon as she got home, Ying Chanxi immediately picked out a nice outfit from the closet, took it into the bathroom, and prepared to wash up and change.

Before entering the bathroom, she reminded Li Luo: "We're leaving soon, right? Let's go out to eat together."

"Mm, got it."

"Wear this outfit," Ying Chanxi added, "I put it on your bed."

"Okay."

Li Luo nodded, waited for Ying Chanxi to shower, then checked the time; when he felt it was right, he shut down his computer and went to shower too.

By the time he finished, Ying Chanxi had just finished as well.

So Li Luo put on the outfit Ying Chanxi picked for him, dried her wet long hair for her, and the two prepared to go out together.

"You two are going out, right?" Xu Youyu happened to come out of her bedroom to use the restroom, saw them fully dressed, and teased with a grin, "Mind if I tag along?"

"Umm…" Hearing this, Ying Chanxi stammered, glancing left and right, then couldn't help asking Li Luo, "Where's Zhusheng?"

She was supposed to hold off the senior, so why wasn't she here?

Ying Chanxi was annoyed inside, but then Li Luo said: "She went to learn driving with her roommate this afternoon."

"This…"

"Alright, alright," Xu Youyu, seeing her distressed expression, finally stopped teasing her, waved her hand, and walked into the bathroom, "Go ahead, don't worry about me—I'll handle dinner myself."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi finally sighed in relief and nodded quickly: "Bye, senior, we're leaving now."

After saying that, Ying Chanxi hurriedly pulled Li Luo to the door to change shoes and rushed out of the house, as if afraid that Xu Youyu might suddenly change her mind and follow them.

"Zhusheng is so unreliable," Ying Chanxi complained as she pulled Li Luo downstairs and got into the passenger seat, "Thank goodness the senior didn't actually come."

"Maybe Youyu was just teasing you," Li Luo laughed, started the car, and drove toward Shidai Tianjie with Ying Chanxi.

"Senior isn't that mean," Ying Chanxi huffed, "It's Zhusheng who's the worst."

Li Luo: "..."

He didn't know how to respond to that.

"What movie do you want to watch tonight?" Li Luo asked.

"I don't really want to see anything," Ying Chanxi shook her head, then thought for a moment, "Wu Lang 2 was super popular this summer—let's watch that. Boys probably love it, right?"

Li Luo had no objection; watching movies with Xi Xi and the others was never really about the movie itself.

Compared to the others, Xi Xi was probably the most well-behaved of the three girls.

"Then let's watch that movie," Li Luo nodded in agreement.

Although he'd seen Wu Lang 2 in his past life, unless he actively opened his memory palace, his impression of it was already hazy—watching it again wouldn't hurt.

So Ying Chanxi in the passenger seat immediately pulled out her phone and pre-booked a couple's seat.

Then Li Luo asked: "What do you want for dinner?"

"Let's go up and look around first," Ying Chanxi checked the time—it was still early, "I bought tickets for 8:30, no rush."

"Then take your time walking up—see what you feel like eating."

"Okay~"

Ying Chanxi's face lit up with anticipation; she held the chest strap with her left hand, watching the scenery blur backward as they neared Shidai Tianjie.

Though it was only a few minutes' drive, Ying Chanxi felt it took forever before they finally reached the parking lot.

After getting out of the car, Ying Chanxi eagerly wrapped her arms around Li Luo's arm and happily walked with him into the elevator.

They didn't head straight to the fourth floor; instead, they started strolling on the first floor, peeking into any shop that caught their interest.

Since they were already there, the two decided to browse the clothing stores.

With university having just started, Ying Chanxi thought she might as well buy Li Luo some new clothes, so she dragged him around trying on outfits.

"My closet was already barely half full," Li Luo looked at the two extra bags of clothes and pants in her hands and sighed helplessly, "Now it's almost bursting."

Li Luo's closet back at Jincheng Community was full, but that was from years of accumulation since childhood—and it was much smaller than the one in Bihai Lanting.

Yet since moving into Bihai Lanting, even though he only needed to wear his school uniform daily, his closet kept filling up more and more.

Ying Chanxi had bought him the most.

Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng also bought him clothes sometimes, but only occasionally—usually just one or two pieces during holidays.

Ying Chanxi bought him clothes when she was happy, when she was upset, and whenever she felt like it.

Seeing Li Luo wearing clothes she'd bought gave her a peculiar sense of satisfaction.

It felt as if she had taken excellent care of Li Luo, giving her a strong sense of accomplishment.

"These two pieces look great on you," Ying Chanxi said, carrying the bag as she walked out of the clothing store with Li Luo, humming softly. "You should change your clothes more often for me—don't keep rotating the same few outfits."

"I always have to pick them out for you before you'll wear anything new. Otherwise, it's always the same few sets over and over." "There are so many clothes in your closet—why waste them by not wearing them?"

Li Luo: "... With the amount of clothes I have now, even if I changed daily, it'd take me nearly half a month to go through them all?"

"Still better than letting them sit at the bottom of your closet," Ying Chanxi gave him a side-eye. "Besides, some clothes aren't fixed combos—maybe that new top you bought will match perfectly with an old pair of pants you already own."

"Then just pick for me," Li Luo said, giving up. "I'll do whatever you say."

"Hmph~" Whether it was annoyance at his laziness or delight at hearing "I'll do whatever you say," Ying Chanxi's hum carried both pout and sweetness.

Then she added, "We won't be going home every day from now on."

"How about I pick out complete outfits for you, and you take a few sets to the dorm? If you're staying there, just change daily."

"Wear them out, bring them back, and I'll wash them all at once—won't that be easier?"

Listening to Ying Chanxi's overly thoughtful, almost excessively virtuous words, Li Luo was left stunned.

"I'm talking to you—do you agree or not?" Ying Chanxi, seeing he was silent, thought he found it troublesome, and gently shook his arm.

"Mmm... I'll do whatever you say."

"That's more like it," Ying Chanxi smiled happily, hugging Li Luo as they continued upstairs.

By six-thirty in the evening, they finally reached the fourth floor of Tianjie, choosing a restaurant specializing in bullfrog hotpot.

After enjoying their meal and resting briefly, they saw the time was nearly right and rose together to head toward the cinema on the fifth floor.

"What's wrong?" Li Luo noticed Ying Chanxi suddenly glancing toward the ticket checkpoint and asked curiously.

"Nothing," Ying Chanxi shook her head, blinking. "The girl who just went through the checkpoint looked a bit like Jiang Lai—maybe I imagined it."

"Really? Was she alone?"

"No, she was holding onto a boy's arm," Ying Chanxi hesitated, then said no more, pulling Li Luo toward the ticket counter.

After successfully getting the couple's movie tickets, Ying Chanxi happily took a photo.

After waiting a short while in the lobby, when it was time for screening, they held hands, passed through the checkpoint, entered the theater, and sat down in the last row's couple's seats.

"Feels like it's been ages since we came to watch a movie together," Ying Chanxi whispered.

Except for Xu Youyu, none of them had a habit of going to the movies often.

And Xu Youyu was a lazybones—he'd rather stay home than go out, and even when he watched movies, it was at home.

So the last time they came together to watch a movie at the cinema, it seemed to have been back in Gao Er.

And they'd sat in couple's seats then too.

"Yeah, back in Gao Er," Li Luo whispered close to Ying Chanxi's ear. "And it was the day after someone stole my first kiss."

"Wh-what are you saying..." Ying Chanxi's memory instantly sharpened at his words, her cheeks flushing slightly. "'Stole'? That sounds so harsh..."

"Then what should I call it?" Li Luo teased. "Should I say Ying Chanxi voluntarily offered her cinematic first kiss?"

"You're terrible," Ying Chanxi gave him a light shove, still embarrassed about it.

Seeing how adorable she was, Li Luo immediately pulled her into his arms and kissed her, teasing her thoroughly on the couple's seat.

Only when Ying Chanxi was breathing lightly, lips flushed, leaning against him, dazed and dazed from the kiss, did Li Luo finally let her go.

After a moment's pause, Ying Chanxi remembered their first time sitting in couple's seats, and whispered softly: "You don't know, do you? Back then, Ren Zheng and the others saw us sitting in couple's seats."

"Huh? That happened?" Li Luo paused, startled.

He'd only learned in Gao San about Xu Yinghuan, Qiao Xinyan, and Ren Zheng secretly forming several QQ groups.

He hadn't realized something like that had already happened back in Gao Er.

Recalling how Ying Chanxi had looked sitting in the couple's seat back then, Li Luo rubbed his chin and said: "No wonder you were so shy then—I thought it was just because we were in couple's seats."

"You still remember that clearly?" Ying Chanxi whispered. "I wasn't that shy, was I?"

"It was definitely much shyer than now," Li Luo laughed, pinning her into the corner and kissing her again.

Once she was completely limp, he scooped her up and sat her on his lap.

"No... there are cameras," Ying Chanxi murmured, leaning against Li Luo, deeply embarrassed.

"It's fine—we're not doing anything," Li Luo said, pointing at the big screen. "The movie's starting—just watch like this."

"You can't watch a movie like this..."

"Then get off and sit properly?"

"... No," Ying Chanxi quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, her body betraying her reluctance to move.

Li Luo chuckled, effortlessly in control—his left arm wrapped around her slender waist, his right hand casually sliding onto her thigh.

"Just watch the movie," Ying Chanxi bit her lip, grabbing his wandering hand, whispering, "Don't move around."

Li Luo stopped his mischief, holding the girl in his arms, watching the movie while occasionally nuzzling her ear and chatting about the plot.

When it reached ten-thirty at night, the movie finally ended.

Ying Chanxi slid off his lap, adjusted her clothes and skirt, then rewrapped her arm around his.

"Let's go home," she said cheerfully. "We have class early tomorrow."

"Mmm."

Back in the underground parking lot, Li Luo drove the Audi out of B1, and as they waited at a red light, he saw Ying Chanxi tapping furiously on her phone screen, doing something.

"What are you looking at?" Li Luo asked.

"Nothing much," Ying Chanxi blinked, her expression hesitant—as if facing some dilemma. "I'm just... preparing to post a WeChat Moments."

"Oh," Li Luo replied, asking no more.

It was surely the same routine as yesterday's Yan Zhusheng.

These two sisters' love-hate rivalry was practically a tradition.

But Li Luo didn't know that at this moment, Ying Chanxi was stuck right before posting, hesitating whether to block Yuan Wanqing.

After much deliberation, he finally clenched his teeth and chose not to block the other person, directly tapping send on his Moments post.